


putting three quarters into a washing machine (next to a caulked, cracked wall)

by starsandsands



Series: Multifandom Ficlets [3]
Category: My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-23
Updated: 2010-07-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 01:29:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16075523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsandsands/pseuds/starsandsands
Summary: Spencer realizes that hooking up with the hot guy in his building that’s about a decade older than him isn’t the right way to make his mother stop nagging him about getting a girlfriend.





	putting three quarters into a washing machine (next to a caulked, cracked wall)

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Song of the Sad Assassin by Why?

Spencer realizes that hooking up with the hot guy in his building that’s about a decade older than him isn’t the right way to make his mother stop nagging him about getting a girlfriend. But like, she lives across the country from him and never has to find out, right?

Spencer meets Gerard walking out of the station nearest their apartment building. Spencer’s seen him around a lot, as they live in the same building and work near each other. Gerard’s even come into the restaurant Spencer works at a couple of times, but they’ve never actually spoken before today. It’s raining outside and Spencer is thinking about how glad he is that brought an umbrella to work that morning when he bumps into someone. He winces when hears the distinct sound of papers hitting the wet ground and immediately turns around to help clean up the mess he’s made. Once they’re done peeling the few papers that actually touched the ground off the sidewalk, Spencer shielding them from any more damage with his umbrella, they turn and look at each other.

“I’m so sorry,” Spencer apologizes immediately, and the man blinks.

“Well thank you for helping me,” he replies. “I’m Gerard, by the way,” he adds, and laughs as if he told a particularly funny joke as he extends his hand.

“I’m Spencer,” Spencer replies, shaking the hand. “You live up on the 5th floor, right?”

“Yeah, with the elevator on the fritz, the stairs are killing me,” Gerard answers, smiling. Spencer adjusts his umbrella to include Gerard, noticing how soaked the other man is. They continue talking as they walk toward their building, only pausing when Spencer unfolds his umbrella when they go inside.

“Hey man, do you wanna come inside?” Spencer asks, noticing how Gerard is wheezing as they make it to the fourth floor, where Spencer lives.

“Yeah, could I just sit down for a bit?” Gerard asks, hands on his knees. “I’m a lifelong smoker, so exercise is not my friend.”

“No, dude, I totally get it. I’m over this way,” he says, leading Gerard to his door.

“Do you smoke?” he asks, conversationally.

“Occasionally, but I mostly bum cigarettes at parties, to socialize and shit. I think the only time I actually ever bought a pack was on my eighteenth birthday, because I could,” Spencer replies, unlocking the door.

“Ah, to be young, before nicotine fixes its sweet, sadistic grip on you,” Gerard grins and _woah_ , how did Spencer not realize how ridiculously pretty he was?

“I’m not actually that young,” Spencer says, making a face. “Do you want some coffee? You can hang your coat up and dry off a little, it’s pretty chilly out.”

“Yeah, that sounds good, my brother isn’t due to be back in a couple of days, and it gets lonely up there,” Gerard says, plopping on the couch after carefully removing his coat and muddy shoes.

“Do you live with him?” Spencer asks, while moving about in his kitchen.

“When he’s in town, yeah. He mostly spends his time traveling for work, but you know.”

Spencer sets the cream and sugar on the table before he goes back to the kitchen and brings out two mugs filled with coffee. They sit and chat, sipping their drinks amiably. 

“I’m pretty sure I’m your upstairs neighbor,” Gerard admits sheepishly, once he finishes his coffee. “Sorry if you’ve had any problems with it.”

“Nope, I haven’t had to use my broom for any occasion other than sweeping and swatting at flies,” Spencer tells him with a grin. “Do you want any more coffee, or-”

“I really should be getting back to my apartment,” Gerard says, frowning. “But hey, maybe I’ll stop by your restaurant more often now that I know one of the chefs!”

“Don’t expect a discount on anything, Alex doesn’t give those out to anyone he doesn’t know,” Spencer warns. Gerard flashes a quick grin before he gets up.

“It was nice talking to you, dude,” Gerard says as he leaves.

“See you later!” Spencer calls out before he closes the door.

: :

“How is life living on the cold, harsh east coast?” Brendon asks Spencer, on one of his bi-weekly checkups.

“Rainy and fantastic,” he replies. “How is your dreadfully boring life shacked up in sunny California?”

“Patrick and I went to the beach and-” Spencer lets Brendon ramble on for a few minutes until Brendon asks him “Anything new?”

“Well, yeah. I bumped into my upstairs neighbor the other day.”

“Is he cute?”

“Would I be talking to you about him if he wasn’t?”

“Well no, but still. Tell me more, tell me more, like does he have a car?”

“When you stop quoting Grease, maybe.”

“Ooh, then this is serious!”

: :

Spencer hears a strange creaking upstairs before he hears the thump. When he hears the thump, he jolts out of bed, grabbing his cell before running towards the noise. When he reaches his kitchen, he sees a fair chunk of plaster sitting on his counter. He can hear someone upstairs mumbling a long string of curses.

“Hello?” he calls, standing directly under the small hole that has appeared in his ceiling.

“-not getting the deposit back _now_. Oh my god, hello? Is that an actual hole in the floor?” Gerard asks, and Spencer is about to giggle the question is so ridiculous.

“Yes, there is an actual hole in my ceiling, thank you for asking.”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry about this. Mikey was just trying to cook-”

“Shut it asshole,” Spencer hears Mikey murmur, and then louder, “We’ll call the landlord in the morning, do you need any help?”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

“You can’t call the landlord, oh my god I don’t want to be kicked out.”

“What are you going to do about the hole in the floor, then?” Mikey asks, and Gerard starts rambling.

“Do you have a rug?” Spencer asks, and from what he can see, Gerard grins and hops off his floor. Mikey peers into the hole and Spencer feels like he’s in one of those horror movies where people literally watch you from the walls. “Hi?” Spencer says, and Mikey draws away quickly.

“You are such a genius, Spencer! How can I ever repay you?” Gerard asks after Spencer hears a rug getting dropped on the floor, presumably near the gaping hole in his ceiling.

“Well, do you want to help me with the hole in my ceiling?” he asks, and Gerard nods.

“I’m coming down there right now!” Gerard says, and gets up off his hands and knees, so he’s disappeared from Spencer’s view.

“No!” Spencer calls out, and Gerard drops again. “I mean, can this wait until tomorrow? I’d like to get back to sleep right now, since I have work later.”

“Sure sure, I should probably do the same. Do you want me to wake you up at any particular time?” he asks, like waking an almost stranger is a completely normal and acceptable thing to do.

“Umm, no,” Spencer replies, biting his lip. “I have a really good alarm clock. But thanks for asking?”

“Okay, see you later!” Gerard says cheerily and drops the rug on top of the hole. Some dust gets in Spencer’s face, and he coughs, but he doesn’t think much of it. He goes back to sleep.

: :

After Spencer gets off work the next day, he stops by the drug store to pick up a few things to help fix his ceiling. While his selection is extremely limited, he does manage to find some caulk, Krazy Glue and his old friend, duct tape. He finds a little bottle of white poster paint, and figures it won’t do any harm, then moves on to the snacks. He thinks about getting a six-pack and some chips, but realizes that he’s going to have to bring this all on the train, and he thinks more than one plastic bag would be too much.

Spencer spots Gerard at the station shortly before the train gets there, and nudges him in the side. “Are you ready to help fix my ceiling?” he asks, hoisting the plastic bag with his haul. Gerard nods with grim determination. They plan their attack on the way back to the apartment.

: :

After the hole in the ceiling has been plugged up, they talk about their lives, but more specifically their relationships- or lack of them. Gerard bemoans the fact that he hasn’t had a steady boyfriend in over a year, and Spencer one-ups him with, “I haven’t gotten laid in three.”

“You poor boy,” Gerard says, shaking his head.

“I’m probably going to get Carpal Tunnel,” Spencer agrees, and Gerard shoots him another crazy grin.

“I could probably fix that, you know,” Gerard says, pushing closer towards Spencer, causing him to lean against the counter. Spencer can feel Gerard’s breath on his nose, their faces are so close.

“Really now, could you?” Spencer asks, just before they lean in and then it’s a frenzy of tongues and teeth. Gerard is a very skilled kisser, and Spencer would tell him that if he could _breathe_ , but being squished between a hot guy and a countertop kind of takes your breath away. Eventually though, breathing becomes a bit important, so he pushes back, and takes a deep breath.

“Would you want to move this elsewhere?” Gerard asks, and Spencer nods before kissing him again.

: :

“I can’t believe we just did that,” Gerard says, and Spencer can’t help but agree.

“It was pretty reckless, but I guess my birthday’s coming up soon.”

“Oh darling, you don’t look a day over twenty,” Gerard says, kissing him again.

“Not that many,” Spencer admits just as Gerard’s phone starts buzzing.

“Gerard Way, artistic visionary and award-winning genius,” Gerard answers, and Spencer laughs. He’s known Gerard’s full name for a while now, thanks to the mailboxes downstairs, but hearing it all together makes something click in Spencer’s mind.

“Holy shit,” he whispers, and waits until Gerard’s done with his agonizingly long call.

“Sorry about that, business stuff, you know?”

“You’re _that_ Gerard Way, aren’t you?” Spencer asks, and Gerard looks at him, as if he is puzzled.

“The comic book writer, yeah. Why?”

“Oh my god my friend is your biggest fan, I don’t know why it didn’t really click for me. But wait, if you’re all rich and stuff from that, why are you living _here_?”

“I don’t really spend a lot of time at home, so I haven’t moved out of the place since I got it a couple of years ago.”

“But wait, aren’t you like, old? I guess I was expecting like graying or something.”

“I’m 33, I don’t really consider that old.”

“Holy fucking shit!” Spencer exclaims. “What the fuck, oh my god.” He starts swearing and scrambling at the covers in confusion.

“What? What’s wrong?” Gerard asks.

“Dude, you’re like 10 years older than me,” he says, which causes Gerard’s eyes to widen. They stare at each other for a few panicked moments.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were 23? I assumed you were in your late 20’s.”

“I’m 22, and dear jesus, you are such a baby face.”

“If you told me-“

“Like that would have made a-”

“Well now I just feel-” Spencer interrupts him with a kiss. They can talk about it later.

: :

“So how are things going with the hot dude in your apartment, his name is Gerard, right?” Brendon asks when he phones Spencer

“Well, uh, I gotta tell you something-”

“You _slept with him_! Spencer, you old dog!” Brendon exclaims and Spencer feels the blood rush to his face.

“Umm, yeah, but that’s-“

“I knew it!”

“Brendon, listen for a second!” Spencer shouts and then feels self-conscious because Gerard could probably hear him if he’s there. “Brendon, Gerard is _Gerard Way_ , the comic book writer?”

“Good for you, but isn’t he-” Brendon trails off and then gasps. Spencer braces himself for the nagging he’s going to go through. “Spencer, isn’t it one of your rules that you never sleep with someone that could possibly read by the time you were born?”

“Here’s hoping he’s dyslexic,” Spencer mumbles and Brendon starts laughing, sounding choked on the other end. “What’s so funny, Patrick’s older than you!”

“Patrick’s like three years older than me, not ten and a half. Oh my god, when your mother hears this-”

“Don’t you dare tell her, Brendon!” Spencer threatens, and adds, “Besides, it was an accident. I didn’t know how old he was until _after_ we slept together.”

“That’s even better, Spencer. You don’t know how old he is and you’re sleeping with him,” Brendon says and Spencer sighs.

“He looks really young, ok? Like Patrick’s age or something, I didn’t know he was on the opposite side of thirty.”

“And he had no qualms with sleeping with someone a decade younger than him?”

“He didn’t know! He thought I was older,” Spencer says, and Brendon starts cracking up. “It’s the beard! I told you I looked more manly with it now!”

“I still have a really hard time believing that,” Brendon says, laughing silently and Spencer is fed up. He hangs up, and a few minutes later when his phone rings again, he picks it up immediately.

“Are you done laughing?” he asks, feigning boredom.

“Never,” Brendon cackles.

“Is Patrick there? I would rather talk to someone more mature about this.”

“You like ‘em awful mature, huh?”

“Shut up Brendon, seriously.”

“Yeah, yeah, Patrick’s right here. He’s making one of those really sexy faces, you know, where he’s all wrinkly and graying-” The phone is snatched out of Brendon’s hand, and Patrick talks to Spencer for about ten minutes before they hang up.

: :

Gerard brings it up before Spencer can say anything about it. Well, he brings it up the next time they're lying in bed together. 

Maybe not the next time-next time, but like, a respectable two weeks after they find out about the age gap between them.

"I know it's kind of weird that like, I'm ten years older than you?" he says, once the post-orgasmic glow has mellowed out enough for him to speak.

"It doesn't have to be weird, though," Spencer replies. "I promise I'll explain any pop culture references I make that you don't understand if you promise to do the same for me."

"Deal," Gerard says, and brushes the hair out of Spencer's face before snuggling up close to him.

: :

When Gerard and Spencer move in together later that year, Spencer's mother is ecstatic that he's finally found someone. Neither of them get their deposit back.


End file.
